NYCastings – DirectSubmit

“America is not the greatest country in the world anymore,” from the TV Show “The Newsroom”. Will’s speech on America. 5-6 Min.

WILL: Fine. [to the liberal panelist] Sharon, the NEA is a loser. Yeah, it accounts for a penny out of our paychecks, but he [gesturing to the conservative panelist] gets to hit you with it anytime he wants. It doesn’t cost money, it costs votes. It costs airtime and column inches. You know why people don’t like liberals? Because they lose. If liberals are so fuckin’ smart, how come they lose so GODDAMN ALWAYS!

And [to the conservative panelist] with a straight face, you’re going to tell students that America’s so star-spangled awesome that we’re the only ones in the world who have freedom? Canada has freedom, Japan has freedom, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, Belgium has freedom. Two hundred seven sovereign states in the world, like 180 of them have freedom.

And you—sorority girl—yeah—just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there are some things you should know, and one of them is that there is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we’re the greatest country in the world. We’re seventh in literacy, twenty-seventh in math, twenty-second in science, forty-ninth in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, number four in labor force, and number four in exports. We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending, where we spend more than the next twenty-six countries combined, twenty-five of whom are allies. None of this is the fault of a twenty-year-old college student, but you, nonetheless, are without a doubt, a member of the WORST-period-GENERATION-period-EVER-period, so when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about?! Yosemite?!!!

We sure used to be. We stood up for what was right! We fought for moral reasons, we passed and struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were, and we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and cultivated the world’s greatest artists and the world’s greatest economy. We reached for the stars, and we acted like men. We aspired to intelligence; we didn’t belittle it; it didn’t make us feel inferior. We didn’t identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election, and we didn’t scare so easy. And we were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed. By great men, men who were revered. The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one—America is not the greatest country in the world anymore.

[to moderator] Enough?

“And now I know that only love can truly save the world,” from the film “Wonder Woman”. Diana’s concluding statement. 1-2 Min.

DIANA: I used to want to save the world. To end war and bring peace to mankind. But then I glimpsed the darkness that lives within their mind and learned that inside every one of them there will always be both. A choice each must make for themselves. Something no hero will ever defeat. And now I know that only love can truly save the world. So I stay, I fight and I give for the world I know can be. This is my mission now. Forever.

“But if you love me, you have to love all the things about me,” from the film “Dirty Dancing”. Baby confronts her dad. 1-2 Min.

BABY: I told you I was telling the truth Daddy. I’m sorry I lied to you. But you lied too. You told me everyone was alike and deserved a fair break. But you meant everyone who was like you. You told me you wanted me to change the world, make it better. But you meant by becoming a lawyer or an economist and marrying someone from Harvard. I’m not proud of myself, but I’m in this family too and you can’t keep giving me the silent treatment. There are a lot of things about me that aren’t what you thought. But if you love me, you have to love all the things about me. And I love you, and I’m sorry I let you down, I’m so sorry Daddy. But you let me down too.

“And they showed me that if there is one constant in this whole universe, it’s death,” from the film “Star Trek Generations”. Dr. Soran is addressing Captian Picard of the Enterprise and tells him about the Nexus. 1-2 Min.

Dr. SORAN: You must think I’m quite the madman, hm? I know why you’re here. You’re not entirely confident you can shoot down my probe so you’ve come to dissuade me from my horrific plan. Good luck…. You know, there was a time when I wouldn’t hurt a fly. Then the Borg came. And they showed me that if there is one constant in this whole universe, it’s death. Afterwards, I began to realize it didn’t really matter. We’re all going to die sometime. It’s only a question of how and when. You will too, Captain. Aren’t you beginning to feel time gaining on you? Heh. It’s like a predator. It’s stalking you. Oh, you can try and outrun it with doctors, medicines, new technologies. But in the end, time is going to hunt you down and make the kill. What if I told you a new truth. The Nexus. Time has no meaning there. The predator has no team.

“I’m calling you a killer. A natural-born killer. You always have been, and you always will be,” from the film “Kill Bill”. Bills muses over superheroes while discussing Beatrix Kiddo’s betrayal. 3-4 Min.

BILL: As you know, l’m quite keen on comic books. Especially the ones about superheroes. I find the whole mythology surrounding superheroes fascinating. Take my favorite superhero, Superman. Not a great comic book, not particularly well-drawn, but the mythology. The mythology is not only great, it’s unique…Now, a staple of the superhero mythology is, there’s the superhero and there’s the alter ego. Batman is actually Bruce Wayne, Spider-Man is actually Peter Parker. When that character wakes up in the morning, he’s Peter Parker. He has to put on a costume to become Spider-Man. And it is in that characteristic Superman stands alone. Superman didn’t become Superman. Superman was born Superman. When Superman wakes up in the morning, he’s Superman. His alter ego is Clark Kent. His outfit with the big red “S”, that’s the blanket he was wrapped in as a baby when the Kents found him. Those are his clothes. What Kent wears – the glasses, the business suit – that’s the costume. That’s the costume Superman wears to blend in with us. Clark Kent is how Superman views us. And what are the characteristics of Clark Kent? He’s weak, he’s unsure of himself, he’s a coward. Clark Kent is Superman’s critique on the whole human race. Sorta like Beatrix Kiddo and Mrs. Tommy Plympton…You would’ve worn the costume of Arlene Plympton. But you were born Beatrix Kiddo. And every morning when you woke up, you’d still be Beatrix Kiddo… I’m calling you a killer. A natural-born killer. You always have been, and you always will be. Moving to El Paso, working in a used record store, goin’ to the movies with Tommy, clipping coupons. That’s you, trying to disguise yourself as a worker bee. That’s you tryin’ to blend in with the hive. But you’re not a worker bee. You’re a renegade killer bee. And no matter how much beer you drank or barbecue you ate or how fat your ass got, nothing in the world would ever change that…

“Pen them up together, they’ll devour each other without a second thought,” from the film “PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END”. Jack Sparrow tells all the pirates that they should fight. 1-2 Min.

JACK SPARROW: Whose boons? Your boons? Utterly deceptive twaddle-speak, says I. (Pause) Cuttlefish. Aye. Let us not, dear friends, forget our dear friends, the cuttlefish. Flipping glorious little sausages. Pen them up together, they’ll devour each other without a second thought. Human nature, isn’t it? Or…. fish nature. So, yes, we could hole up here well-provisioned and well-armed. Half of us would be dead within the month. Which seems quite grim to me, any way you slice it… Or… uh…. as my learned colleague so naively suggests, we can release Calypso, and we can pray that she will be merciful….

“I don’t have a mother” From the Film “A Little Princess.” Sara talks about her deceased mother. Dramatic Monologue For Kid Female. 1 Min.

Written by: Richard LaGravenese and Elizabeth Chandler

SARA: I don’t have a mother either… she’s in heaven with my baby sister… But that doesn’t mean I can’t talk to her, I talk to her all the time… I tell her everything and I know she hears me because… because that’s what angels do. My mom is an angel and yours is too. With beautiful satin wings, a silk dress, and a crown of baby rosebuds, and they all live together in a castle. And do you know what it’s made out of? Sunflowers. Hundreds of them, so bright they shine like the sun. And when they want to go anywhere they just whistle, like this…(whistles) and a cloud swoops down to the front gate and picks them up and as they ride through the air, over the moon and through the stars… until they are hovering right above us, that’s how they can look down and make sure we’re all right. And sometimes they even send messages. Of course you can’t hear them with all the noise you were making… but don’t worry they’ll always try again… just in case you missed them.

“Please don’t go away” From the Film “Finding Nemo.” Dory begs Marlin not to leave. Dramatic Monologue For Kid Female. 1 Min.

Written by: Andrew Stanton, David Reynolds, and Bob Peterson

Dory: No. No, you can’t. …STOP! Please don’t go away. Please? No one’s ever stuck with me for so long before. And if you leave…if you leave… I just, I remember things better with you! I do, look! P. Sherman, forty-two…forty-two… I remember it, I do. It’s there, I know it is, because when I look at you, I can feel it. And…and I look at you, and I…and I’m home! Please…I don’t want that to go away. I don’t want to forget.

“Wake up little spider” From the Film “Spiderman.” Green Goblin is asking Spiderman to join him. Dramatic Monologue for Kid Male Actor. 2 Min.

GREEN GOBLIN: Wake up little spider, wake up. No, you’re not dead… yet… Just paralyzed… temporarily. You’re an amazing creature, Spiderman, you and I are not so different. Well… to each his own. I chose my path, you chose the path of the hero and they found you amusing for a while, the people of this city. But the one thing they love more than a hero is to see a hero fail, fall, die trying. In spite of everything you’ve done for them, eventually they will hate you. Why bother? Here’s the real truth. There are eight million people in this city and those teeming masses exist for the sole purpose of lifting the few exceptional people onto their shoulders. You and me, we’re exceptional. I could squash you like a bug right now, but I’m offering you a choice. Join me. Imagine what we could accomplish together. What we could create or we could destroy. Cause the death of countless innocents in selfish battle again and again and again until we’re both dead? Is that what you want? Think about it hero…

“Cause the only thing you give a shit about is yourself… and your medals,” from the film “Baywatch”. Mitch tells Brody he is out of the team. Comedic monologue ideal for Adult Male Actors. 1-2 Min. 

MITCH: I watched you win two gold medals. You were amazing when it was just you. When it came to the relay, being part of your team, your Olympic team, your family, you blew it. Because you’re selfish. Baywatch is our team. Baywatch is our family. These are the keys to our house. But you’ve proven to me that you don’t want to be part of this family. So you’re done. Cause the only thing you give a shit about is yourself… and your medals.

“To be, or not to be: that is the question” from the play “Hamlet”. Hamlet compares his grief to that of a player, and devises a plan to take action against Claudius, who Hamlet believes murdered his father. 3-4 Min.

HAMLET: To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, ’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there’s the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover’d country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.–Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember’d.

THE FANTASTICKS – Louisa’s opening monologue. Dramatic Monologue For Teen Female. 1-2 Min.

Written By: Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt

THE GIRL (LOUISA): This morning a bird woke me up. It was a lark, or a peacock; something like that. So I said hello. And it vanished, flew away, the very moment I said hello! It was quite mysterious. So do you know what I did? I went to my mirror and brushed my hair two hundred times, without stopping. And as i was brushing it, my hair turned mauve. No, honestly! Mauve! Then red. then some sort of a deep blue when the sun hit it…. I’m sixteen years old, and every day something happens to me. i don’t know what to make of it. When i get up in the morning and get dressed, I can tell…something’s different. I like to touch my eyelids, because they’re never quite the same. oh, oh, oh! I hug myself till my arms turn blue, then I close my eyes and cry and cry till the tears come down and I can taste them. I love to taste my tears. I am special. I am special! Please god, please, don’t let me be normal!

TARTUFFE – Mariane tries to appeal to her father and not have to marry Tartuffe. Comedic Monologue For Teen/Young Adult Female. 1 Min.

Written by: Moliere

MARIANE: Father, I beg you, in the name of Heaven
That knows my grief, and by whate’er can move you,
Relax a little your paternal rights,
And free my love from this obedience!
Oh, do not make me, by your harsh command,
Complain to Heaven you ever were my father;
Do not make wretched this poor life you gave me.
If, crossing that fond hope which I had formed,
You’ll not permit me to belong to one
Whom I have dared to love, at least, I beg you
Upon my knees, oh, save me from the torment
Of being possessed by one whom I abhor!
And do not drive me to some desperate act
By exercising all your rights upon me.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST – Cecily meets Algernon, who she believes is Ernest. Comedic Monologue For Teen Female. 1 Min.

Written by: Oscar Wilde

CECILY: You silly boy! Why, we have been engaged for the last three months. It will be exactly three months on Thursday. Ever since dear Uncle Jack first confessed to us that he had a younger brother who was very wicked and bad, you of course have formed the chief topic of conversation between myself and Miss Prism. And of course a man who is much talked about is always very attractive. One feels there must be something in him, after all. I daresay it was foolish of me, but I fell in love with you, Ernest. The engagement was actually settled on the 14th of February last. Worn out by your entire ignorance of my existence, I determined to end the matter one way or the other, and after a long struggle with myself I accepted you under this dear old tree here.

THE SEAGULL – Nina comments on how Arkadina and Trigorin handle life. Dramatic Monologue For Young Adult Female. 1 Min.

Written by: Anton Chekhov

NINA: How strange to see a famous actress weeping, and for such a trifle! Is it not strange, too, that a famous author should sit fishing all day? He is the idol of the public, the papers are full of him, his photograph is for sale everywhere, his works have been translated into many foreign languages, and yet he is overjoyed if he catches a couple of minnows. I always thought famous people were distant and proud; I thought they despised the common crowd which exalts riches and birth, and avenged themselves on it by dazzling it with the inextinguishable honour and glory of their fame. But here I see them weeping and playing cards and flying into passions like everybody else.

THE SEAGULL – Masha is talking with Trigorin and assesses how she will deal with her broken heart. Dramatic Monologue For Young Adult Female. 1 Min.

Written by: Anton Chekhov

MASHA: I am telling you all these things because you write books and they may be useful to you. I tell you honestly, I should not have lived another day if he had wounded himself fatally. Yet I am courageous; I have decided to tear this love of mine out of my heart by the roots. By marrying Medviedenko. Oh, if you knew what it is to love without hope for years and years, to wait for ever for something that will never come! I shall not marry for love, but marriage will at least be a change, and will bring new cares to deaden the memories of the past. Shall we have another drink? Don’t look at me with that expression on your face. Women drink oftener than you imagine, but most of them do it in secret, and not openly, as I do. They do indeed, and it is always either vodka or brandy. To your good health! You are so easy to get on with that I am sorry to see you go.

THREE SISTERS – Irina has a revelation about the morning and shares her incite with Chebutikin. Dramatic Monologue for Teen Female. 1 Min.

Written by: Anton Chekhov

IRINA: When I woke up to-day and got up and dressed myself, I suddenly began to feel as if everything in this life was open to me, and that I knew how I must live. Dear Ivan Romanovitch, I know everything. A man must work, toil in the sweat of his brow, whoever he may be, for that is the meaning and object of his life, his happiness, his enthusiasm. How fine it is to be a workman who gets up at daybreak and breaks stones in the street, or a shepherd, or a schoolmaster, who teaches children, or an engine-driver on the railway…. My God, let alone a man, it’s better to be an ox, or just a horse, so long as it can work, than a young woman who wakes up at twelve o’clock, has her coffee in bed, and then spends two hours dressing…. Oh it’s awful! Sometimes when it’s hot, your thirst can be just as tiresome as my need for work. And if I don’t get up early in future and work, Ivan Romanovitch, then you may refuse me your friendship.

“There will come a time” From the Film “The Fault in Our Stars.” Hazel talks to her support group. Dramatic Monologue For Teen Female. 1 Min.

Written by: Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber

HAZEL: I just wanna say… there will come a time when, you know, all of us are dead. It might be tomorrow. Might be a million years from now but… it’s gonna happen. And when it does, enough generations will come and go, there’ll be no one left to remember Cleopatra. Or Mozart. Or Muhammad Ali, let alone any of us. Oblivion’s inevitable, dude. And if that scares you, well, I suggest you ignore it. God knows it’s what everyone else does.

Drilling through a monologue can often feel as nerve-racking as a trip to the dentist’s office. It can make your jaw bolt shut and mind race to do something, anything else! Yet there is another approach. A way to look at monologues that can make you actually “fall in love,” according to Karen Kohlhaas, monologue maverick and acting coach.

Karen Kohlhaasis the director/producer of The Monologue Audition Video (DVD), and author of The Monologue Audition: A Practical Guide for Actors (Foreword by David Mamet), How to Choose a Monologue for Any Audition, and The Monologue Audition Teacher’s Manual.

Karen is also a founding member of New York’s Atlantic Theater Company, where she recently directed the Lucille Lortel Award nominated THE COLLECTION and A KIND OF ALASKA by Harold Pinter which was named a top-10 theater production of 2010 by the New York Times, New York magazine, and the New York Daily News.

So if you are looking to breathe in the sweet air of monologues that do not scare, go ahead and take in these tips from Karen Kohlhaas…

Q&A with Karen Kohlhaas

Q: Monologues can be terrifying! How can they not feel like a trip to the dentist’s office?

By having a technique that works, and then by falling in love with the elements of acting – including the nerves – that make you want to be an actor in the first place. I have found over 20+ years of teaching monologues that the “dentist’s chair” feeling – that monologues are an excruciating but necessary thing an actor must do – comes from not having a technique for approaching them.

Q: Once an actor can open their mouth without fear – what should they ultimately try to convey through a monologue?

First, an actor must open his or her mouth regardless of fear – tell the story anyway. So stop waiting until you don’t feel afraid. Assume you will feel afraid – as most heroes do; as most actors do; as most people who appear in public do. What you must convey is the truth of the story, told with the truth of yourself. The environment of auditions – especially monologue auditions, where there is no partner or reader – seems to conspire to put the actor’s attention on himself. An actor can place his attention on the story he is telling, and make us forget that we are watching an audition. That is possible, at each moment in any performance or audition. And when your attention wanders – put it back on the story!

Q: Speaking of opening up, how does an actor’s body (actions, stance, etc) affect their performance?

The body is the vehicle of the story – it not only ‘affects’ the story, it IS the story. The body is either well-trained and specific and aligned with the story at hand, or it is stiff, or fidgety, or general and getting in the way of the performance and the story.

Q: So many monologues are clunky or overdone! How can an actor find the right one(s)?

Shameless self-promotion – I wrote an entire book about this, because material choice is so important: HOW TO CHOOSE A MONOLOGUE FOR ANY AUDITION. The short answer – don’t lead with an overdone monologue (there are lists on my website); READ READ READ, develop your taste and knowledge of great writing, and very important: research each audition and know who you are auditioning for and as much as you can about their tastes and experience. Finally: work toward having an arsenal of monologues – 10-20 that represent what you do well, and that are potential great fits for the auditions you may go on. If you think 10-20 sounds overwhelming, just consider how you would feel about yourself – how you would walk in the room – if you had 10-20 to choose from! I can guarantee the work is worth it. I offer a 20-monologue challenge to my students you can read about here: http://monologueaudition.com/ma_why-20.htm

Q: When an actor finds that golden monologue, what does it take to reach an ‘audition ready’ level?

First of all, give up looking for ‘the golden monologue’ – it does not exist; there are only monologues that are great choices, for you, in certain auditions.

To get it ready –

1. Have clear, suspenseful staging that has variety and that builds to a clear climax – even if the staging is very subtle or simple. Make choices; get out of neutral.

2. Have a clear objective and the ability to play that objective fully off of “the wall”

3. Practice practice practice until you know it inside and out, until none of you is “remembering” and all of you is focused on the moment at hand.

Q: What are some tips to keeping a monologue fresh?

Learn how to fall in love with your objective each time you do it. Go for more and more truth in each moment each time you do it. Don’t try to rework the whole thing to keep it fresh – keeping something fresh – but consistent – is an important skill to have, as in a long run of a show.

Q: According to your site, you help actors fall in love with monologues – How is that possible?!

If you have accomplished the skills I laid out above, and you truly love acting, it is quite likely that you will fall in love with monologues. There is so much fun you can have when you have a complete technique; you can have fun as the “producer and director” of your monologues, at the same time as having fun as the actor! Monologues are the purest form of acting and storytelling. I never get tired of watching them: it’s you in a room with nothing to help you – no partner, no set, costume, lighting – and yet it is possible to totally transport your “seen it all, been-there-done-that” audience of industry pros. I find that so dramatic, and so satisfying when someone does it well, particularly someone who never thought they would enjoy it!

For more info on Karen, please check out…

Upcoming monologue workshops
http://monologueaudition.com/ma_workshops.htm 

Karen’s website (click for lists of men’s and women’s overdone monologues)
www.monologueaudition.com

BOOK: HOW TO CHOOSE A MONOLOGUE FOR ANY AUDITION by Karen Kohlhaas
http://monologueaudition.com/ma_book-choose-info.htm

BOOK: THE MONOLOGUE AUDITION: A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR ACTORS by Karen Kohlhaas, foreword by David Mamet
http://monologueaudition.com/ma_book-first-info.htm

DVD: THE MONOLOGUE AUDITION VIDEO
Karen and 9 New York actors show you her complete technique, including interviews with 7 industry pros who have seen thousands of auditions
http://monologueaudition.com/ma_video-trailers.htm

“Perchance you think…” from the play “Peter and the Starcatcher”. Captain Black Stache laments the struggles of being a villain. Under 1 min.

BLACK STACHE: “Perchance you think a treasure trunk sans treasure has put my piratical BVDs in a twist? How wrong you are. Yes, I’d hoped to be hip-deep in diamonds, but they’re a poor substitute for what I really crave: a bona fide hero to help me feel whole. For without a hero, what am I? Half a villain; a pirate in part; ruthless, but toothless.

And then I saw you, and I thought, “Maybe? Can it be? Is he the one I’ve waited for? Would he, for example, give up something precious for the sake of the daughter he loves?” But alas, he gives up sand. Now, let’s see: hero with treasure, very good. Hero with no treasure…. doable. No hero and a trunk full o’ sand? Not s’much. NOW, WHERE’S MY TREASURE?!?”